Seraphim in Caelum
by Evilkitten3
Summary: Thirty-six days is a long time in the Celestial Spirit world. But warm, familiar hands wrap around its key once more, and Caelum finally allows itself to be summoned once again. Caelum-centric


**AN: I don't know why, but this idea's been running around through my mind for months. It's kinda creepy, really, but that's perfect for Halloween, yeah? So… I hope you guys like it!**

 **Title** : Seraphim in Caelum

 **Summary** : Thirty-six days is a long time in the Celestial Spirit world. But warm, familiar hands wrap around its key once more, and Caelum finally allows itself to be summoned once again.

 **Characters** : Angel/Sorano Agria, Caelum, Aquarius, Jellal Fernandes

 **Warning** : One-sided love

Caelum considered itself to be the ultimate Celestial Spirit. It wasn't as strong as the Zodiac Spirits, nor even the strongest of the Silver Keys. It wasn't even the strongest of its own kind. But it was more loyal than any other spirit could claim to be. When it was a fairly new Spirit, a little girl picked up its Key. She'd had no idea what it was, but it had decided then and there that she would be its first owner – its little Angel. She'd kept the little silver key under her dress, hidden from the eyes of the men with whips.

And then, a dark-skinned man had led its Angel to safety, and told her about her special Key. And, for the first time, Caelum was summoned. She had only been a little girl at the time, but Caelum hadn't been very old either. It had fallen in love with the little girl right away. She had told it that her name was Sorano Agria, and that it was her very first Celestial Spirit. Caelum had never been happier. It was free every minute of the day, every day of the week, it told her. She could summon it whenever she wanted, for whatever reason.

There was nothing Caelum loved more than its Angel. Eventually, she took on the name Angel, and Caelum fully supported her decision. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl – she deserved nothing less. Soon, Angel found two other keys, golden ones. The first was Gemini, the twins, and the second was Scorpio, the scorpion. For a short time, Caelum worried that it would no longer be summoned, but Angel had not forgotten their contract. She summoned it whenever she wanted, sometimes no reason at all. Caelum was her first spirit, and her favorite.

As she grew older, she grew more beautiful as well. They fought side by side multiple times, destroying their opponents. One day, they encountered another Celestial Spirit mage, one with green hair. The two ended up fighting, but its Angel offered the other girl a chance to escape. "Give me your keys, and I'll let you live," she'd offered, "You aren't strong enough to keep going." But the idiot had refused, and Angel had struck the final blow. It had been her first kill. "It's not like it's _really_ murder," she told Caelum later. "I mean, she already had a gate open. She would have died anyway. She was practically asking for it. It wasn't _my_ fault." Caelum had whirred in agreement. Of course, Caelum was fairly certain that anyone stupid enough to go up against its Angel deserved death, but keeping two gates open at once was pretty stupid if you weren't using both of them.

That day, Angel got a new key, Aries, the ram. Caelum did not like Aries. She apologized too much, and she cried a lot. Angel didn't like that, and neither did Caelum, but Aries was strong, so they allowed her to stay with them. However, there was one other thing Caelum hated about Aries. Sometimes, when the boys of Angel's guild were too, well, _boyish_ , Angel would summon Aries for some girl talk. Caelum could not help with that. Caelum didn't wear clothes. Caelum never had boys staring at it like it was a piece of meat. Caelum didn't wear shoes. Caelum didn't even have _feet_. But Aries did, and Angel – _its_ Angel – would summon her to talk with. Aries' last wielder had been from the Blue Pegasus guild, and, if nothing else, she knew about fashion.

And Caelum hated her. It hated that she could be with Angel when it couldn't, hated that she was an experienced spirit and that even when she was weak and scared and crying she was still valuable. It hated her stupid pink hair, and her stupid curly horns, and her stupid sexy figure that boys wanted to look at, and stupid fluffy clothes, and stupid big brown eyes, and stupid crying, and stupid apologies. Caelum hated everything that made Aries who she was, but it respected her loyalty and strength.

Until that one fateful day when Aries – and the other two, Scorpio and Gemini, who Caelum had never had a problem with before – decided that its Angel just _wasn't good enough anymore_. They turned their backs on her, broke their contracts, and sided with the enemy. Lucy Heartfilia. Caelum hated her too, but it knew that she hadn't asked Aries and the others to betray its Angel. No, that had been their call, and it had cost Angel the fight. And then its Angel was taken and locked away in a place where she didn't belong, and Caelum was taken and sold to some store, and its key was sold.

No matter what, though, Caelum would not allow itself to be summoned. No matter how often the shopkeeper yelled at its key, nothing ever happened. Eventually, the shopkeeper decided that the little silver key was either a fake or just broken. Its key was thrown in the trash, and it ended up in a dump.

Back in the Celestial Spirit world, Caelum refused to interact with any of the other spirits. Scorpio and Gemini wanted to know why it hadn't joined that blonde harlot, the other Caelum spirits wanted to know why it hadn't formed any new contracts yet, and Aries – that pink-haired _bitch_ – actually had the nerve to ask if it was alright. Caelum hadn't been able to stop itself from attacking her, much to Aries' shock and alarm. For the next few days, Caelum whirred angrily at anyone who dared get near it. The Celestial Spirit King eventually told the others to leave it alone, sending Caelum a sad look.

Twenty-eight days after its self-imposed exile from society began, something changed. Aquarius returned crying, which was strange enough, but even stranger was the Celestial King's disappearance. He'd be summoned to the human world, Aquarius had explained, at the cost of her key. Scorpio made to go over to her, but Caelum got there first. To the shock of them all, the spirit that had refused contact for seven human years was affectionately headbutting one of the most fearsome keys in the kingdom. There had been a shocked silence, and then Aquarius had given it a tearful smile. "Thank you, Caelum," she had said quietly. And that had been all she'd needed to say. For the next eight days, Caelum stuck by Aquarius's side loyally, watching with her as that silly blonde girl stumbled through life, getting stronger and stronger.

And then, something else happened. Caelum felt a hand gently pick up its key, and it jumped, startled. Aquarius turned to look at it.

"Is something wrong?" she asked quietly. Caelum spun in confusion. It had been a long time since anyone had picked up its key, and no one had bothered to dig it out of the trash dump where it had been tossed. The hand was not the hand it wanted to feel, but it was warm and kind. Caelum's key was cleaned carefully, and even polished, and the kind hand carried it off somewhere. But Caelum was not summoned. Its key was, instead, wrapped up in silver tissue paper, tied with a dark blue ribbon.

Soft, less calloused hands unwrapped the key, and Caelum felt itself tingle as the warmth and familiarity of its wielder once again touched it.

"Open, gate of the Chisel! Caelum!" it was _her_ voice, the voice of its Angel, and Caelum felt itself vanish from the Celestial Spirit world and appear once more in front of the woman it had pledged eternal loyalty to. Its Angel – its beautiful Angel, with her hair grown to her waist, and with a couple more lines on her face, but still with that same ethereal beauty that had captivated Caelum so long ago – held out her arms and embraced it. She was crying, it knew, and it would be too, if it could. The blue-haired man who had reunited them smiled.

"Happy birthday, Sorano," he said quietly.

 **AN: So, what did you guys think? I wondered why Caelum didn't leave Angel with the others, and I eventually decided that it was in love with her. Logic. Well, whatever. I hope you guys are enjoying your Halloween more than I am. Some fucker decided to have LUDI on the 31** **st** **, and it's always a real pain in the ass. I hope this little oneshot brings a bit of *insert emotion you may or may not be feeling here* to your lives. Happy Halloween!**


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